I've bought a couple cars I found on Autotrader. Another option if you have a specific car in mind is to find a forum dedicated to that car and check out their for sale section. I would recommend staying away from former rental cars.

The last time we bought a car, we were very fortunate to have a relative who could look up the local auction prices of cars--the auctions where only car dealers are allowed in.

After he gave us the information, I used it to haggle via email with a few local dealers. Hardly haggled: I emailed them asking if they had an XX car with XX miles or fewer and would be willing to sell it for $XX, including tax, tag, and title. Those who responded got my response in turn. We went to one of these dealers who had the best response (after setting up the appointment via email), we test drove the car, and we bought it for exactly $XX. While we were there, they tried getting us to pay $x more, but we said thanks but no thanks, and as we walked out they called us back and "gave" it to us for $XX. We paid by check.

I think you could reach your rock-bottom price via internet research (cars.com, edmunds.com, all those other websites) to find the best local price. I liked using a dealer b/c they all offered free carfax on each car, so we knew that none of them were flooded or otherwise undesirable.

@wordnerd that's an extremely helpful thread, thanks. I love the idea of dealing through email and getting the lowest offer. Do you think that still works well with used cars? It seems like the price variation could cause more discrepancies.

@wordnerd that's an extremely helpful thread, thanks. I love the idea of dealing through email and getting the lowest offer. Do you think that still works well with used cars? It seems like the price variation could cause more discrepancies.

The model I was looking for showed up at quite a few used car dealers (not brand name dealerships), and I went to Yelp to check reviews for the dealer, especially the hidden/unapproved reviews. There were some interesting stories in there!

After keeping track of prices for a few months, I ended up buying the car from a Lexus dealer. It had been serviced there since new, had only 52k miles, and was only a little more expensive than the cars I was seeing at used car dealerships.

We've had a few Hondas over the years, and I once went to look at a "certified" car at my local Honda dealer. The interior looked like a couple of cats had been fighting in there, and when I popped the hood (this was January) the engine bay was full of leaves and dirt. I asked the sales guy how this could possibly have gone through a 150-point checklist, and he said "we do that when we sell it". Right.

@wordnerd that's an extremely helpful thread, thanks. I love the idea of dealing through email and getting the lowest offer. Do you think that still works well with used cars? It seems like the price variation could cause more discrepancies.

Would likely be harder. We've only done it with new cars (two Leafs).

I did it for a used car. I found it worked extremely well. You have to specify how many miles you are willing to take on a used car and what years, but I got a great deal this way, plus it saved loads of time.

I also wouldn't rule out just letting your friends/family know you're looking for a good used car.

Non-mustachians trade in perfectly good cars all the time for no apparently good reason! Most of the time the dealer offer is pretty horrible, and you can happily take it off their hands.

Even better- do you have a friend/relative (or relative of a friend) who's an independent mechanic? They always know of someone who's just itching to buy something new and get rid of a trusty older car. Often the mechanic would love to see someone other than the dealer benefit from a good deal.

Check popular forums for the make/model you're looking to buy. I'd take a clean carfax car that was owned by an enthusiast over some random car sold on a dealer's lot for profit any day of the week.

Craigslist/WantAdDigest and the like can have good deals too, but like anything, you need to do your homework. Get a feel for how the buyer maintained the vehicle, find out the real reason why they're selling, and get a prepurchase inspection at a reputable shop at the minimum before even making an offer.

I work at a dealership and I agree with finding someone who is a mechanic somewhere. I have seen excellent cars(5-7 years old under 80k miles) get traded in just because someone had to have something new and fancy. Also look at estate auctions, usually the vehicles for sale are the late parents and the cars are mint with little to no miles.

Example: Last week saw a Jeep patriot get traded in for a new "Swedish" model. They gave them 7500 for the 2013 Jeep patriot with 42k miles. Stuck on the lot for 14,000

You may want to check out Hertz and Enterprise. Both have car sale divisions. No haggling is a benefit. I was happy with one of them years ago; can't remember which one.

Seconding Hertz, I bought a car from them just this Saturday. They had a ton of 2016 models w/ ~40k miles. They happily let me take it to my mechanic for an inspection and there were no nonsense fees sprung on me. It was really nice since the internet had prepared me for the worst.

The model I was looking for showed up at quite a few used car dealers (not brand name dealerships), and I went to Yelp to check reviews for the dealer, especially the hidden/unapproved reviews. There were some interesting stories in there!

After keeping track of prices for a few months, I ended up buying the car from a Lexus dealer. It had been serviced there since new, had only 52k miles, and was only a little more expensive than the cars I was seeing at used car dealerships.

We've had a few Hondas over the years, and I once went to look at a "certified" car at my local Honda dealer. The interior looked like a couple of cats had been fighting in there, and when I popped the hood (this was January) the engine bay was full of leaves and dirt. I asked the sales guy how this could possibly have gone through a 150-point checklist, and he said "we do that when we sell it". Right.

Thanks for the Autotempest tip! I'm looking for a late model Civic sedan and it found several options from different places.

we bought a car from carvana after the Harvey flood. the process is really easy and they bring the car to your house on a truck. you drive it for a week and can return it no questions asked as long as you don't go over a certain mileage. you do have to jump through all the purchase hoops before you can drive it but the car we got was as described on the website.

they don't have old cars or many high mileage cars, but if you're not looking to make a total mustachian purchase, it'll do. it's way easier than haggling and wasting time with a dealer but you pay a little more for that peace of mind.

also i would not buy from a dealer who is not a major brand dealer. too many of those little lots buy auction junkers and get them just good enough to sell. i'm sure there are legit small dealers but if you don't have a solid personal referral i would stick with the big dealers who are offloading cars they took in as trades.